Evaluation of the Swedish Millennium Development Goals campaign

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• Evaluation of the Swedish Millennium Development
  Goals campaign
• The Chance of a Lifetime
• OECD/DAC Informal Experts WorkshopBonn, 18-20
  march 2007
• Ann Lundqvist

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Why the campaign?

• Improve knowledge - clarify that Sweden has a
  commitment to contributing.
• Create public opinion to make this possible.
  Strong public opinion may also be seen as a tool
  for
• Creating policy space - making it easier for
  politicians to take the measures necessary for
  achieving the MDGs.
• Participate in and inspire cooperation at
  international level strengthening the global
  opinion.

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What were the objectives?

• To keep the MDGs on the agenda in Swedish
  politics and in current debates
• To provide key groups with knowledge of the MDGs
  
• To create cooperation and opinion in favour of
  the MDGs internationally and globally.

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The chance of a lifetime Strategy - working as
a catalyst, networking with keygroups
Politicians/state officialsMeetings, educations,
conferences, seminars and policywork
- .
Civil society/companies Universities etc - 85
org. joined the network and signed up for
Ad-campaign
Opinionleaders
Putting the millenium goals on the general agenda
Putting the millenium goals on the political
agenda
The general public
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What were the prerequisites?

• Organizational form/placement - Project, shared
  responsibility between the unit for global
  development and the unit for press, information
  and culture at the Ministry of Foreign Affaires.
• Project group - three fulltime persons, after
  the first year an assistentwas included.
• Budget -30 millions SEK 300 000 EURO
• Time available -approx. 3 years, from fall 2002
  until the end of 2005

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The Evaluation Objectives with the evaluation

• There were two different objectives
• The first request was a material that would help
  the department of Foreign Ministry deciding on
  how to carry on with work after the project was
  ended.
• The second request was an overall evaluation of
  how the project group had succeeded in their
  mission. Had the objectives for the campaign been
  reached?

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Evaluation design Criteria and indicators

• For the first part - a deeper insight and
  experience was needed in order to collect ideas
  and suggestions for how to carry on.
• For the second part there was a need to look at
  the overall performance of the project. A whole
  range of both quantitative and qualitative
  indicators were looked upon, when following up on
  the three objectives

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Evaluation designmethods

• 1) For the first part we mainly used a
  qualitative method in depths interviews with
  24 representatives people who had been involved
  in the campaign and in the network.We also made
  telephone interviews with 289 politicians and
  other opinionleaders which was more of a
  quantitative approach.
• 2) The second part of the evaluation was a desk
  research goals, strategies activities and
  outcomes and weighed it with the prerequisites
  given.

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Challenges during the evaluation?

• The first part was rather uncomplicated -
  putting together a list of opinionleaders from
  which we could draw an representative sample.
• The challenge with evaluating the whole project
  or campaign was to grasp and overlook all the
  activities that the project group had done over
  the three years.

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Quantitative results

• Articles on the MDGs - with a circulation
  totalling 47 347 300 from the start in 2003 to
  August 2005..
• Ad-campaign The Chance of a Lifetime in
  2003-2004 has reached 3 611 000 Swedes.
• Eurobarometer survey (Feb 2005), 27 per cent of
  Swedes know about the MDG,They responded to the
  question Have you heard of the Millennium
  Development Goals?.
• A survey conducted by Sida (Sifo, Sept 2005)
  shows that it was 57. Have you heard of the
  MDGs, i.e. that poverty is to be halved by
  2015?.

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Quantitative results

• But MDGs only turn up as an issue in parliament
  a few times per year
• In ministers speeches they occur7 times in
  200423 times in 2005
• Hardly any connections made between the PGU the
  politic of Swedish development and the MDGs.
• 90 of the interviewed politics say the know
  about the MDGs44 have noticed the campaign -
  The chance of a lifetime33 say they have
  enough knowledge to discuss and debate the MDGs

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Some Qualitative results

• Positive experience of the project and the
  working group - fast, flexible, large network
• They have put the MDGs on the agenda - but, maybe
  just amongst the inner circle
• More successful with the information/educational
  part then with the advocacy (create opinions)
• Acted as a catalyst for professor Hans Rosling -
  using FN statistics for showing global
  development
• For example - HM nowadays are relating their
  efforts in CSR area to the MDGs

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Qualitative results

• Easy to sign up for the campaign under that we
  shall achieve the MDGs, but HOW, is a
  completely different thing - there we disagree!
• The network ought to continue
• The role of MFA leading the campaign - in
  relation to independent NGOs
• For ongoing work - a strong political signal is
  necessary

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Results was communicated

• To the projectgroup
• The Minister for International Development
  Cooperation
• The State Secretary for Development Cooperation
• Other units at the Ministry of Foreign Affaires,
  that were involved with development cooperation
• The two written reports were sent out to
  representatives and Co-workers that had been
  interviewed.
• They were also sent out to all 85 organizations
  in the network
• And put on the website www.UD.se
• An English translation of the short version was
  made and sent out to the network, The MDG
  responsible in NewYork, who put it on their
  website

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Conclusions

• Looking at the two objectives1) Keep the
  Millennium Development Goals on the agenda in
  Swedish politics and in current debates
• The results of keeping the MDGs on the
  political agenda was rather poorly. One of the
  big obstacles was the lack of political interest
  and the lack of formally mandate. It was a
  mission given to a project group that despite
  their lack of a door opener still opened quite
  a few doors.

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Conclusions

• Looking at the two objectives
• 2) Provide key groups with knowledge of the
  Millennium Development GoalsBut they did
  contribute to raise the awareness and knowledge
  of the MDGs within the keygroups. it was hardly
  an issue when the group started their work. But
  Considering the given prerequisites the
  Swedish MDG campaign was in our view a rather
  successful project

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Lessons learned

• About the campaign
• Political support are vital
• Organisational placement important
• The strategy worked well
• Difficult role to play for the Ministry of
  Foreign Affaires?
• About the evaluation
• Objectives relatively high considering
  prerequisites
• But they were clear and working with follow ups
  and evaluations necessary and made the final
  evaluation possible